Children of Light
by ExoRipper
Summary: Follow the two brothers, Apollo and Hermes, as they find out the hard way just how tough life can be inside the Quarantine Zone. From heartfelt adventures, to comedic moments, to dark reveals, anything and everything is possible in the decaying city once known as Harran.
1. Chapter 1: The night shift

_**A/N:** The official characters I've chosen to list in the description aren't the only ones that'll appear, and even though they haven't appeared in this first chapter, they will appear in later ones._

Thunk! As he landed face-first onto the hard pavement, he realized just how loud that sounded. Especially in the silence of the night.

He got up his feet, though only partially, as to not be seen from behind the car next to which he landed. He looked over the upside-down vehicle, scanning the street for any eventual enemies. Only a few normal, shambling corpses.

'Only normal corpses', he thought, then paused for a second.

'Normal my ass', his train of thought continued.

'Though this is the norm now in this god-forsaken hell-hole of a city...'

Looking up to the roof off of which he fell, he could hear his brother, first sighing in relief and then struggling to contain his laughter. This was, however, no laughing matter. Being outside in Harran was bad enough, while doing it at night was close to suicide. One wrong step, one loud slip of the foot or a bad landing was all it would take to potentially attract the attention of half the volatiles in the city. Before they'd realize it, those monstrosities would tear them apart in a blink of their undead eyes.

'Welp, time to get back up there. We've got no time to lose...'

A short climb was all that separated him from the relative safety of the rooftops. Not even up there was he safe though, as these corpses were like vines, able to crawl up on anything they could grip. The high ground was, however, better than the streets. At least up there, the little annoying fuckers were inexistent, or at the very least rare. Down on the streets, getting overrun was not only a possibility, it was the most likely outcome.

So he got up off his ass, and with a quick hand gesture he told his brother to help him get back up the roof.

Yet, just as his brother had leaned down and stretched out his hand for him to grab it, a sharp howl sent both of them back on their bellies.

Embracing the cold, hard pavement once again for the low profile it offered, while his brother did the same to the steel sheets that covered the roof, he struggled to lower his breath as much as possible, while also straining his hearing.

As almost complete silence engulfed the street once again, he could hear heavy footsteps approaching, accompanied by a shrieking breath.

From his higher vantage point, his brother could see more clearly the events unfolding below. A volatile got blinded by someone's UV flashlight, which made it scram. Towards them.

Emerging from behind a street corner, it began shambling around, flailing it's arms in the air. After knocking down a trash can and one of the zombies on the street, which approached the noise hoping to find a meal, it started running it's blood soaked hands across it's face, as if trying to get something off of it.

'Poor, confused fucker...'

A few seconds later, realizing the futility of it's efforts, the volatile gave up and accepted it's fate. Letting it's hands dangle besides it's body, it moved it's distorted and broken jaw, gaping it's mouth.

Looking through the broken windows of the upside-down car, onto which's shards he was lying right now, he could only see the feet of the monster. But he could hear it loud and clear, seeing as it was now only 10 to 15 feet away from him. Then he could feel goosebumps rising on his skin, as the creature began gasping for air.

The swirling sound of air being forcefully sucked into dead and decomposing flesh was scary on it's own, yet what was about to be unleashed from the rotting lungs of the volatile was terrifying. A most frightening howl, not unlike those you'd imagine are being heard in hell, followed only moments later, sending ice cold chills down the spines of both brothers.

Aimed at the nothingness of the sky above though, it was only a howl of anger, not a call to feast. Not any less scary though, as it was still capable of attracting a viral or two, which were far more nosy than the volatiles, and would search every inch of the street.

10 seconds passed, with no virals showing up. The volatile calmed down now, and began sniffing the air with a sound which could only be described as that of a drowning dog breathing water through it's nose. That was bad news. Even though they didn't need to breathe anymore and only did it as a remnant, a left-over reflex of their once-alive selves, their sense of smell was still intact. Enhanced even. And now, it was using that sense to find them.

Still laid down on their bellies, both brothers were praying not to be found. But, as the volatile approached the car, they realized it was to late for that. Just as it regained some of it's sight, the volatile got blinded again by the UV flare which suddenly landed on the car, thrown from the roof above.

"Quick, grab my hand!"

"On it!"

Now back on the roof, the two brothers began sprinting at full force. Just as so many times before, the blinded volatile began howling. This time though, it was a "call to the feast" type of howl, which would bring about all the volatiles and virals that would hear it.

"What have we thrown ourselves into..."

"Stop being such a wuss, big bro. It's for a noble cause."

And the only thing separating them from the cause to which they committed were a few streets, filled now with overly paranoid volatiles and virals looking for them. It was only a matter of time until they would be found, as they threw all caution aside and were now just running for their lives.

One loud landing on a dented sheet of metal covering one of the roofs, that's all it took to spark the chase. First a viral, then another, then a couple of volatiles. Slowly but surely, or rather fast actually, the pack of crazed zombies was catching up to them, only growing in size as they approached the safe house.

Yet, even with their superior speed, the corpses had a hard time keeping up with the brothers, whose movements were much more graceful and controlled, compared to the almost spastic running of the zombies, which frequently tripped or even fell off of the roofs.

"Are we getting close to that god damned bazaar?"

"We're almost there, only a few rooftops left!"

Reaching the homestretch, they were now faced with the difficult but unavoidable need to face the corpse-filled streets. Jumping off of the rooftops onto a bus, then a car and finally on the hard ground, they managed to attract the attention of every living corpse in sight.

"I'll go first, you'll follow close behind."

"Got it."

Letting his younger brother charge in front felt wrong, but he knew it was the right thing to do. He was stronger than him, and he also happened to be much better at tackling zombies. Experience he gained as a quarterback in their high school football team, no doubt.

Even though he was not a mountain-sized meathead, combining his huge momentum with proper tackle technique meant he could get through a fairly large group of zombies with relative ease.

He approached the small hoard, whose members were scattered at random all across the street surrounding the bazaar, and began his charge. And one after another, the zombies began biting the dust, hitting the cold hard pavement as they were pushed out of the way of the brothers. It didn't help them that they were clumsy beyond any reasonable measure, but the brothers were perfectly fine with that.

During their crazy dash through the hoard, occasionally stomping the heads of zombies that happened to fall in their way, they could see the gates of the bazaar getting closer and closer. Two signs were hanging above it. A wooden one reading Black Serpent Bazaar was hung there since before the outbreak, while the other was a bed sheet flailing in the wind, with the words SAFE HOUSE smeared onto it with green paint. That, along with the powerful, almost blinding UV lights surrounding the yard was a telltale sign that this was a safe haven during both day and night, probably teeming with survivors right about now. And it was their destination.

Finally within reach, the young brother climbed over the fence, reaching his hand out to help his sibling. Yet, just as the older brother grabbed the fence, something grabbed him by the leg and pulled him to the ground. One of the volatiles, which was now on top of him, managed to catch up to them on the street. Even though they were slow and clumsy on the roofs, no human was a match for the speed of a volatile on the ground, especially in a straight line.

He tried punching and kicking it off of him, while it tried to sink it's teeth into his flesh multiple times, to no avail. Suddenly, the entire weight of the volatile simply vanished, while it flew a couple of feet and finally off of him. Yet, as soon as it hit the ground, the damned thing got back up it's feet and charged him again, only to be blocked by an immense shadow posted now in front of him.

"Climb inside! Now!"

"But..."

There was no time for buts though, as his brother could only hold the volatile for so long before being overpowered by it's immense, inhuman strength. Going against his will to help, he quickly climbed over the fence and watched his brother struggling against the mass of rotten flesh on the other side. He pushed the volatile away, then pulled a hunting knife out of his pocket, stabbing it in it's left shoulder during it's next charge. The pain made the creature jump back a few feet, with the knife still embedded deep within it's flesh. Confused by this unusually strong human, it didn't see what came next. It received a facefull of blinding UV light from the pocked flashlight, getting blinded momentarily. That bought him enough time to jump over the fence, and join his brother in the safe zone.

Now inside and out of the reach of the flesh hungry corpses, they could finally relax.

"Oh man, that was madness. The tower isn't even that far away from here, and yet we almost got killed."

"Again."

"I hate the night..."

As they tried to pass through the crowd gathered around them, one of the men finally stepped forward and addressed them.

"Excuse me, strangers, but who are you?"

"I'm Apollo." Replied the older brother.

"And I'm Hermes. We're brothers." Replied the younger brother.

"So you're not from around here, I gather."

"You're very perceptive, old man. What gave us away?" Apollo asked, on a sarcastic tone. Of course, in reality, everything gave them away. From their looks, to their names, to their accents, they were clearly foreigners.

Apollo was the tallest among the two, a little over 6 feet, with black hair, yet deep blue eyes. He wasn't huge, but he was well built none the less. A definite side effect of his new life style.

Hermes on the other hand was a little shorter, though not with much, as he stood only a couple of inches lower than his brother. His hair was dark blonde, and his eyes were the same deep blue as his brother's. He was however well built, compared to Apollo. He was a bit on the bulky side, though not enough to hinder his movement or lower his agility. Or else he wouldn't be a runner.

Apollo looked at the annoyed, old man, and asked him, while looking around the yard.

"Listen, we're not here for trouble, if that's what you're afraid of. We're here..."

He couldn't finish though, as the ever-enthusiastic Hermes had to cut in.

"We're here to help. We heard your radio message back at the tower, and we came as fast as we could. Now, where's the girl?"

Apollo turned his gaze upon his brother, as the tone of that last part sounded a bit to perverted for his liking. In return, his brother cracked a worried smile and waved his hand in his "it's just a joke, bro" fashion. Apollo sighed, and turned back to the old man.

"So, where's the girl?"

"Dude, you get mad at me, but your line sounded even more perverted..."

"Shut up, Hermes!"

"You shut up, I'm the player in this group!"

The men were now watching them butting their heads together, unable to believe that two morons such as these could survive a night run. The old man dispersed the crowd through a hand gesture, and then addressed the two brothers, which were still going at each other's throats.

"Listen, strangers. If you want to help, follow me. But please keep quiet. The people here are trying to rest."

The brothers looked at the old man, then back at each other, then they let out a half-assed sorry. In reality of course, they weren't sorry for anything. In fact, this was their routine, their way of showing their affection for each other. Anyone that knew them, knew that. And actively tried to avoid them in such moments, as they would escalate quickly into full-blown fights. Sparring matches, or training as they'd call it.

The old man took off, walking softly towards one of the make shift tents in the yard. Following him inside, the brothers saw a heart breaking scene. A young woman, no older than 30, was sitting on her knees at the head of a child laid on a mattress and covered with a ragged blanket that's seen better days.

Upon hearing the three men entering her tent, she lifted her head, revealing the exhausted and desperate look in her eyes.

"Erva, these two boys are here to help Aylin."

Tears began running down her cheeks, as she tried to mutter thank you between her sobs. Apollo approached her, kneeling down besides the mattress, while Hermes had stayed behind with the old man. He checked the young girl's temperature by pressing the back of his hand against her forehead, and found out that her reddened face was telling the truth: she was burning with fever. Then he uncovered her, and checked her breathing by placing his ear on her chest. Her breaths were deep and heavy, though rare. Having no time to lose, he busted out a small pouch, which once opened was revealed to be filled with medicine. He then began questioning the woman.

"On the radio, you didn't mention much, only that your daughter needed medical care as soon as possible. I need to know a bit more though, so I can treat her properly."

"She began having seizures two days ago, and it's gotten worse since then. She passed out in the morning, with this high fever."

"Has she been bitten, or does she suffer from unrelated seizures?"

"She's been bitten, yes."

"Recently?"

"No, it's been a few weeks now. Our money ran out some time ago though, so we couldn't afford much antizin."

The old man was looking at the scene, impressed by what he was seeing.

"Is your brother a medic or something?" He asked eventually.

"No. Not yet anyway. He was in his last year at the medical college though, so he knows what he's doing. Mostly anyway."

As Hermes was talking to the old man, Apollo turned towards them and said.

"Hey, bro, hand me your vial. I forgot mine back at the tower."

"Sure, just give me a sec..."

Hermes proceeded to search his pockets for a few seconds, and then his hand emerged out of his back pocket, holding a small, gray vial which he tossed to his brother. He caught it, and took out an injector from his little pouch, into which he inserted the antizin vial. Upon lifting the girl's sleeve though, her mother stopped him with a hand gesture.

"Listen, stranger. I'm grateful for your help, but as I just told you, I don't have any money."

Apollo turned his gaze upon her, then removed her hand, which was in the way of the injector, and administered a dose of antizin to the sleeping girl, which frowned for a split second before returning to her calm expression. He then tossed the injector to her mother, while muttering to himself.

"What kind of shitty world we live in..."

He then proceeded to search his pouch further, and got a few pills out, which he gave to the woman.

"Give her half of these right away, and if the fever isn't gone by dawn, give her the other half."

After zipping his pouch shut and hiding it in his clothes again, he got up and grabbed his brother, ready to leave the tent. He turned towards the woman, who was clutching the injector, and told her.

"We'll be back tomorrow with another vial or two of antizin. That should last you for a while."

They then proceeded to exit the tent, followed closely behind by the old man.

"Thank you so much for helping Erva and her daughter. How can we repay you?"

"A couple beds for the night should do." Was Apollo's reply.

"And the number of any hot girl that passed by..." But Hermes didn't finish, feeling his brother's stare falling upon him.

The old man pointed them towards an empty tent, with a couple of spare sleeping bags on top of old mattresses inside. Nothing to fancy or special, but welcomed by the two exhausted brothers. As they entered the tent, intending to get a good night's sleep before venturing out in the city again in the morning, the old man couldn't help but think.

"They're a strange pair, these two..."


	2. Chapter 2: Sleepy mornings

_**A/N:**_ I know this chapter's a little short, even though it took me such a long time to upload. To the two people that might actually read this though, my PC got toasted a week after I finished chapter I, and I just now bought a new one. And I'm uploading this short chapter just to let you know the series is not dead. Well not yet anyway.

 _Chaos. Siren calls. Gun shots and screams of pain and agony, mothers abandoning their children in their frantic run for life. And the crowd. The sea of people, the mob ready to knock you to the ground and stomp you to death if you'd happen in it's wake. Biters chomping down on random victims unlucky enough to get in their way. All of it was unfolding right before their eyes, and they froze just as the mixture of hundreds of living and infected was getting closer and closer to them, driven by fear on one side, and hunger on another._

 _"Apollo! Get up, man! We need to get the hell out of here!"_

 _He heard his brother screaming, and felt him tugging at his shirt, but reality was fleeting him, slipping between his fingers and onto the pavement. How could they have breached this place? They were promised a safe zone, they were guarded by tens of soldiers armed to the teeth, and even by UV lights which were giving the Infamy Bridge Fire Wall a run for it's money. Yet somehow, they've breached it. It would take days for them to find out that something as simple as a blackout was responsible for the deaths of hundreds._

 _"Come on, brother! We need to get the hell out! Can't you hear me?"_

 _He could hear him loud and clear, yet somewhere between his brain and his muscles, a connection failed. They were vehemently refusing movement. Only when an infected approached them, screaming and yelling, blood-shot eyes and gaping mouth, did his mind finally snap back into place, allowing him to get up and move. Too little too late though, as there was no way to get out of the way of the mob anymore. Not enough time, and definitely not enough space. Not here, in the crammed entrance corridor of the arena anyway._

 _He could feel being grabbed and flung away, and looking back he could see his brother, pushed to the ground by the viral. Where was the fight part of the fight or flight response? He could've really used some of that right now. Yet it was nowhere to be found. The last thing he saw before being stomped by the mob was his brother getting bitten on his left hand as he was trying to shake off the viral._

He then woke up, all sweaty and breathing heavily. The light of the early dawn began rolling into Harran from beyond the horizon, waking the dead city once again, offering the survivors a sweet release from the clutches of the night. As a streak of light pierced through the half-closed drapes of their window, the two brothers were woken up by the distressed screams of the volatiles, as their skins were being burned by the daylight, as if by some ancient curse or spell. Apollo got out of his bed first, tugging at Hermes until he had no other choice but to follow along.

"C'mon bro, it's so early. Just let me sleep 5 more minutes."

"You misspelled hours...", Apollo replied on a tired tone.

"You always do this to me. I hope you know how much I hate you for it."

"I won't forget it anytime soon, seeing as you remind me of it every single morning."

Up on his feet yet still half-asleep, Hermes began dressing up. Apollo, who was more of a morning person than him, was already leaving the room, letting light flood in as he lazily parted the drapes with his left hand, while reaching for his radio and hatchet with his right one. Out on the corridor he turned his radio on, curious to see what it would pick up, to no avail. As usual, the only reply to his calls was static noise, punctured once in a while by distorted words.

'What a pain in the ass' he thought, as he tried to get the radio to work by smacking it against his left palm. Unsurprisingly enough, it didn't work this time either. Just as it didn't any other time he tried. Why he still tried was beyond him. It was a reflex by now to hit pieces of technology, hoping that that would get them to work, just like you'd strike an old TV when it lost it's signal or when you'd bang your remote against the table when it's battery ran low.

The little noise he made trying to get the radio to work was enough to get Rahim's attention though, who was now approaching him.

"Up already, Apollo?"

"Yeah..."

He was looking at him, trying to guess what goofy plan he hatched this time.

'He's a smart kid, and really mature for his age.' Apollo told himself. 'To bad all that smart is bent on stupid plans though.'

"Apollo?"

"Right, sorry. I spaced out for a second there."

"You already forgot, didn't you?"

What was he talking about? What did he forget?

`Oh yeah, the parkour track test! Shit.`

"No I didn't."

As unconvincing as it sounded, Rahim decided to take it as it was. He rolled his eyes, and then continued.

"Brecken and I will be waiting on the roof. We're revising it one last time, Brecken wants to be sure it covers every single base of free-running."

"Ok, I'll join you after breakfast."

Rahim turned around and took a few steps, then slightly turned his head to ask one final question, even though he couldn't be bothered to actually stop walking.

"Will your brother join us as well?"

"I highly doubt it..."

"That's a shame," Rahim replied, taking a left turn around the corner that led to the staircase.

Shortly after that, Apollo resumed hitting his radio, bent on getting it to work. Behind him, reclining by the door as to not be seen from the corridor, Hermes finally opened his mouth to speak.

"Did he leave?"

"Yes he did," Apollo replied, tired of this hide 'n seek game that the two have been playing for a few days now.

'Ever since Brecken told us about the parkour track actually.'

"You know, you could be nice to him at least once, and come help us out. They need results, and only testing it on me won't offer them to many. They need variation."

"Yeah well I'm not a lab-rat. And you know I suck at parkour anyways. They need someone that can actually finish the track. Now excuse me while I take my variation somewhere else, where I can be of better use."

"Going back at the bazaar?"

"We promised them a few more vials, didn't we?"

"That we did, and we're running late by a couple of days on it. Take care though, and come back in one piece."

"I can't promise anything," Hermes replied, grinning and leaving towards the elevator.

"And keep your hand off of the girls!"

This time he didn't bother to reply, opting to ignore his brother instead, pretending he didn't hear him even though he made that last part louder on purpose.

After a couple more minutes of smacking at the radio, Apollo finally admitted defeat. He shoved the damn thing in one of his back pockets, and took off storming towards the kitchen. Entering the make-shift room, he could see it was empty.

'Of course no one's up yet. It's friggin' 6 in the morning...'

Looking around on the counter and on the shelves, he tried to find something to eat that actually looked appealing, but his hunt failed once again. Only mystery meat, shrooms, spam and fish. All of the good stuff had already been taken and eaten long ago by others.

'Dammit...'

Skimming through the drawers and cupboards as well, he got lucky though: a can of beans.

'Strike!'

He quickly grabbed it and popped it open with his swiss pocket knife, that was probably made anywhere else except in Switzerland, but was a useful all-in-one tool nonetheless. He then proceeded to make his way to the table, putting the tin can on it and sitting on the first chair he could grab.

'Dammit, I forgot the spoon.' He lazily got up and made his way back to the drawer, pulling out a couple of dirty spoons until he found a clean one. With his back turned to the door, he didn't see Jade entering the room as well, followed shortly after by Amir.

"Up already, Apollo?"

Jade's words startled him, making him shift around on his heels and dropping the spoon.

"Yeah, yeah..." he replied, reaching down for the spoon and taking it to the table, hoping to get to enjoy his meal.

"How are the two of you doing? I've heard about the night run," Amir asked, now skimming through the cans as well. Apollo opened his mouth, ready to reply, only to be cut short by Amir once again.

"Mystery meat or spam, Jade?"

"Spam I guess," she replied, clearly disappointed by the poor menu.

"Sorry, Apollo. You can continue."

"As if I even started," he sighed and then chuckled under his breath, earning him a smile from Amir. "We had no choice though. The radio woke me up in the middle of the night, and the poor woman was crying for help."

Looking in the cupboard from where Apollo had taken the beans, Amir turned around, jumping at him and crying himself.

"Hey, those were MY beans. I've been saving them for breakfast!"

After he managed to untangle himself out of Amir's grip, Apollo grinned and took a spoonful of beans out of the can, shoving them in his mouth.

"Here," he said after Amir turned around, handing him the rest of the can. "I didn't know it was yours. I've just grown sick of mystery meat, you know?"

"As did the rest of us," replied Jade, taking another bite from her can.

"No, it's fine," Amir continued. "You can keep it. You've earned it, young night runner," proceeding to grab him once again, giving him a rough nooging.

"Ok, OK! I give up!" Apollo managed do yell through the laughs and yelps of pain, making Amir back off. On the other side of the table, Jade was struggling to contain her laughter.

"You know, I don't think I've ever seen the two of you in the same room without something silly happening," and then she took another bite of meat.

Meanwhile, Apollo pulled the can of beans back in front of him, stuffing himself while Amir finally found something he considered edible enough. Sitting down besides him and opening his can, Amir continued on a serious tone.

"What was the emergency though?"

"A young girl needed a shot of antizin. She's been bitten for weeks, and her antizin shots were always underdosed. I know that what we did was stupid," he said while mixing away at the beans, "but if we would've waited until morning came along, it would've been to late."

Both of them were now staring at their cans in silence, only taking a bite once in a while. Feeling that the atmosphere was getting heavy, Jade decided to change the subject.

"Where's Hermes? Isn't he hungry as well? Or is he not up yet?"

"He went out again. We promised the girl and her mother that we'd bring them a couple more vials of antizin, so he's taking care of that. I just hope he'll leave them alone after that, and not give them his usual routine. Cause if he does, I'm gonna break his other arm as well."

"Little brothers, am I right?" Amir said, looking at the both of them, when in fact he was the only one in the room that didn't have a younger sibling.

"So it was you? You took..."

"No," Apollo cut over her. "It was a biter. It happened in the first few weeks."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"No reason to be," Apollo replied calmly. "He decided he wouldn't let that stop him."

"What's his story though?" Jade asked on a serious tone. "I've known you guys for almost a month now, but I still can't understand you all that well."

"We're strange characters, I know, but we've both had a rough ride. His ride has just gotten a little rougher than mine, and I guess that's just his way of coping with it. If you're curious though, you can always ask him yourself. It's not something he avoids. He actually takes pride in his past, and he really likes blabbering on and on about 'the good times' ", he said, making air quotes with his hands.

"Well I for one," Amir intervened in their conversation, " I'll do that as soon as he gets back."

Having just finished his beans, Apollo got up from the table, tossing the empty can in the sink. He then began walking towards the door, passing Amir by and patting him on his left shoulder.

"You really should. I bet you'll like him when you'll find out his story."

Getting by the door, he turned around one last time, not entering the room again.

"By the way, will you come and help Brecken and Rahim with testing the parkour track? They need runners to do laps on it, so they can perfect it."

"Nah," Amir waved his hand, with a smart-ass grin growing on his lips, "we're to good for that." His face changed right away though, as he continued. "They need beginners for it, it's aimed at helping them get better before facing the real world."

"Whateves, have a nice day." Leaving the kitchen, Apollo headed straight for the staircase, with a long day of jumping through loops for Brecken and Rahim awaiting him.


	3. Chapter 3: The good times

**A/N:** I've assumed that the story of Dying Light takes place during 2014, based mainly on Crane's comment when he finds the book on how to build yourself a horsemask (during the sidequest "Spare glasses"), that comment being "...very 2013", alluding to our saying that something is so last year. Also judging by the length of the in-game days and the fact that it's raining quite often, I've assumed that it's late summer/early autumn, that being the rainy season over in Turkey where the game seems to be based. Also, here's Apollo's and Hermes' full names and dates of birth, they will be somewhat relevant during this chapter.

Apollo Lucius birth date: 27th October 1988

Hermes Lucius birth date: 19th April 1989

* * *

 **Harran, The Present Day.**

It was just past 9 in the morning, and the air at the top of the tower was finally starting to heat up, being cold after the past night. The thin fog that settled over Harran was now finally dissipating as well, unable to hold onto the city any longer. Apollo had already scored a few laps of the parkour course, getting varrying times on each lap, and encountering difficulties at each step. And after each lap, Brecken and Rahim would change it up a bit, making it a tad more difficult or easier where need be.

"Do I really have to do it again? It's the fifth god damn time..."

"Yes you do, buddy. It's not even half-done yet."

"Not even HALF-DONE? Come on kid, give me a break. We have the whole day ahead of us."

"He's right, Rahim. Let him take 5 minutes off, he needs to catch his breath. I'll do a run in the meantime, see for myself how the track improved."

So Brecken wanted to try the tracks himself, it would seem. He was curious to see him doing his thing, a true proffessional at his job. He got up from the counter-weight block of concrete of the high, orange crane sitting atop of the tower's twin, unfinished building, and shook Apollo's hand, who in turn gave him the two-finger salute, right before Brecken turned away from him and jumped in the abyss spanning a few floors below the crane. He landed with a loud thud on the many trash bags and matresses that him and the scouts managed to gather and throw down there to soften their landings, but he didn't stay down for long. He got up his feet, and began running for the door that would lead him to the first level of the track. He took a hard-right at the first corner, breaking into a spint as he entered the corridor. The first obstacle was a narrow hole in the wall, starting at the floor and ending below waist level. These were built everywhere in Harran by the runners, and they were real life savers, just like the ramps and spikes. If one was chased by zombies, this was a perfect escape. All they had to do was crouch down and go through, and the zombies would have a hard time following them.

'Except for those damn volatiles of course.'

Brecken's approach was a bit different though, as he opted to slide beneath it, allowing him to get back on his feet and on the run faster. Good free-runners would call it "conserving your running momentum", and Brecken was really good at it. Back on the track, the next obstacle was a pile of bricks, laid out to simulate a railing, a torn-down wall, or any waist-height obstacle for that matter. Needless to say, that wasn't a big challenge for anyone, not even for Apollo. Brecken passed right over it, as if flying, and kept on running. Another hard-right led him to the door of the staircase, now broken down. The upper part of it was marked with radiant yellow to make it more visible. Every ledge you needed to grab was marked on the course, to make it easier to navigate for the first few times. Though with time, the runners in training would grow to not need them anymore, memorising the track and the various obstacles. Running up the first, intact, flight of stairs, Brecken reached this obstacle, which was a common way to secure buildings nowadays. Being able to get over something like this was a must for every wannabe runner.

A couple of harder steps was all that Brecken needed to build up the neccessary momentum for the jump, using the wall to his left to give him a final boost, allowing him to land crouched down on the other side, so that he could jolt up and continue his run. Apollo's attempts at that obstacle were far less successful. He was slow and clumsy, barely making his way over the broken stairs. Not a problem in here, but a huge one outside. Over there though, he had Hermes to help him along. And he'd help him along as well. That's how they'd made it this far. They've stuck together, ensuring each other's survival.

'And that's how it's always been', Apollo thought. 'The quarantine just raised the stakes, and deepened that bond.'

* * *

 _ **Early Spring of 1992, On the A1 highway near London.**_

 _It was a rainy day, just as the weather forecast had predicted. The water was pouring from the sky, soaking the land and the roads, forcing the traffic near London to grind to a halt. Somewhere along the highway, in the drenched wreck that used to be a ford fiesta, a young boy was crying at the sight of scattered flesh, the only thing left of his parents. Half an hour later, as the firefighters and paramedics reached the crash, he was finally freed from the distorted metal cage that would haunt his nightmares for years to come._

 _Through the syrens and the dounpour, he could hear two police officers talking to each other as they were investigating the crash, though he was to young at the time to understand what they were saying._

 _"Poor thing. He was lucky to survive such a crash."_

 _"What a reckless father he's had, driving at such high speed in this rain. No wonder he couldn't stop. Damn tourists."_

 _"Yeah, I mean just look at the skid marks. Was he blind or something? Couldn't he see the stopped traffic?"_

 _"What will happen with the kid?"_

 _"Don't know, don't care. Let the social workers handle him."_

 _"What's his name even?"_

 _"Lemme check. It's Apollo Orpheus apparently."_

 _The next few years flew by quickly, with young Apollo being tossed back and forth between foster homes and adoption centers. Various loopholes in the laws, combined with the fact that any relatives he had left in Greece refused to take him in had left him stranded in England. No way back home, and no home to speak of here. Abandoned and alone, the years kept passing, each one diminishing his chances of finding a family willing to adopt him. That was until he met the young boy of one of the social workers taking an interest in his case._

* * *

Lost in thought, Apollo didn't even notice when Brecken finished the rest of the course. He completely spaced out, only to be brought back when Brecken got right behind him. With a pat on the back, he asked about his lap.

"So, how was my lap, champ? Am I up to standard?" he asked jokingly.

"He zoned out again," Rahim intervened. "It was a good lap though. One minute and ten seconds."

"A new record," Brecken said, letting out a hearty laugh. "Try and beat it, Apollo."

"I'll do my best," he replied on an uninterested tone, getting ready to do another lap.

* * *

"Come on, Hermes," Amir pushed on, surrounded now by most of the people on the ground floor. Even Jade was there. She definitely did not want to miss the backstory of the Lucius brothers. Yet, having just arrived back at the tower from his morning run to the bazaar, Hermes was tired and would rather have rested. There was no escape however. If he entertained Amir's curiosity for even five minutes, he wouldn't leave now without finding out the whole story. So he eventually gave up and threw himself on the couch facing the elevator, with people gathering around him and making themselves comfortable on chairs, pillows, or even on the cold, hard floor.

"Ok, ok..." he said rubbing his eyes. "Where was I?"

"You just told us of how Apollo lost his parents," Amir reminded him.

"Let me think for a moment," Hermes asked of the restless crowd. "Ok, ok, I know," he eventually spoke out, making a couple of people jump backwards. "It was a warm summer..."

 **Mid-summer of 1995, New Light foster home, Nachtstad**

A woman in her mid-thirties came through the door, interrupting Apollo's reading. He placed the book on the small desk besides his bed and got up, looking at her with slight shock and disbelief. For a second there, with the outside light flooding from behind her and her long, blonde hair gently swaying in the breeze, the young boy had thought that he'd been visited by an angel. His moment of happiness was short lived though, as he realized that woman was no angel. She was just another adult that would come and promise him that he'd get a mom and a dad, only to leave him alone once again. Yet, this woman was somehow different, thought he couldn't tell just how.

She approached him, with a warm smile on her face.

"Hello, Apollo. How are you?"

"Good," he answered sharply.

"What are you reading there?" She got to the desk and picked up the book, with Apollo following close.

"Oh, my!" The woman exclaimed. "Hansel and Gretel, what a nice story."

"It's about a young boy and his sister. And they are left behind by their daddy, just like me." The young boy's words broke her heart. Being alone since he could remember must have been hard for him.

'And being tossed around from one foster home to the next probably didn't help either.'

As the boy snagged his book back from her hands, they could both hear a cry comming from the corridor. A tall man in a nice suit, with black hair and brown eyes, entered the room, leading a small child by his hand.

"I'm sorry, Barbara. He woundn't stop crying."

"Oh, come on big boy!" Barbara told the small child. "You're big and strong, you don't need to cry for mommy all the time," she said, gently stroking his golden hair and laughing. And suddenly, the child stopped crying.

"Mommy, who is this?" the boy asked his mother, as he finally noticed Apollo.

"I don't know," she replied. "Introduce yourself just like I taught you, and you will find out."

So the young boy let go of his father's hand and started walking towards Apollo, who was starting to get teary.

"Hello," the young boy said, reaching out his hand. "My name is Hermes. Nice to meet you."

Grabbing his hand, Apollo replied.

"My name is Apollo."

"Your eyes are blue, just like mommy's. What are you reading? Can you read me the story?" The boy started bombarding Apollo with questions, so Barbara had thought of pulling him away. She quickly changed her mind though, seeing as Apollo didn't really mind. He began smiling, as he showed Hermes his book full of pictures, and as he began reading him the story.

"Let's go, Barbara. We must get his paperwork together, see how we can help him get adopted."

Reaching for both the boys, Barbara ruffled their hair and told them.

"Apollo, we have to leave for five minutes to talk with someone about you. We'll be back though, and we'll help you find a family, ok?"

"Okay, ms. Barbara."

"And Hermes, please behave yourself. And don't cry anymore, mommy will be back right away."

But Hermes could not hear her anymore, absorbed by the story Apollo resumed telling. Nor did he cry when Barbara came back for him. Only after realising he'd have to leave did he begin to cry.

"No, mommy! Can't we stay with Apollo some more? Please. He didn't finish the story yet."

"Here," Apollo cut in quickly, handing him the book. "Take the story with you. That way you will have to come back, because it's mine. And I will read it to you then."

"Thanks, big brother," young Hermes replied, his eyes filled with tears from crying earlier, yet his face stretched into a smile almost to wide to fit onto it.

"Oh boy," the man said under his breath, just as they were leaving the room.

* * *

Looking at the crowd, Hermes could see people rubbing at their eyes and cheeks.

"That's a moving story," Jade eventually commented, causing a few others to nod in agreement.

A few seconds of silence passed, with no one paying attention to Hermes anymore, as they were to busy taking in what they've just heard. Amir eventually tugged at his shirt, making him jump up.

"Just five more minutes, mom..." Hermes said still half-asleep.

"Really?" Amir commented. "You really fell asleep in five seconds?"

"Spare me with that," Hermes replied sharply. "I hate waking up in the morning, and you know it. If I don't catch a good night's sleep, I'll be tired all day long."

Jade got up her feet and approached him now.

"Hermes," she said grabbing his arm and squeezing hard at it, "please continue." The almost murderous look in her eyes was enough to snap Hermes awake, and give him the motivation to continue his story.

 **Early autumn of 1996, Nachtstad, the Lucius household**

Almost a year and a half flew by ever since Barbara first met the young boy named Apollo. A year and a half of visits, seeing him and her son Hermes bond. And when they wouldn't visit, Apollo would, running away from his foster home for a day or two to sleep over. The first few times, the staff was worried, even scared, fearing that he ran away for good. But Barbara would bring him back each and every time, trying her best to reassure them that young Apollo was safe. And after a year and a half, she finally decided it was time, seeing as the two boys had even started boasting to everyone that they were brothers now.

It was a warm autumn night at the Lucius household. Barbara tucked her son in bed, wishing him good night, and then joined her husband, Ray, in the living room. They sat in silence for a while, until Barbara eventually spoke out.

"My dear, I think it's time," she said with a warm smile growing on her soft lips. "It's clear that Hermes has bonded to Apollo, and that it is a mutual feeling." Then, after a few seconds of silence, she continued. "And the same goes for me."

Ray sighed, then hugged his wife tightly before speaking himself.

"I have to admit, the little brat has grown on me as well. He doesn't seem to be a bad child, even though he does misbehave once in a while. Though I'm sure some affection will fix that."

"I'm glad we are agreeing on the matter," she spoke, crawling her way in his arms.

"Well," Ray said, caressing her belly, "I think our son deserves a brother. I was sad for a long while that we couldn't offer him one, but I guess he found one for himself."

That settled it. Apollo would finally get the family he was promised for so many years. And from behind the corned where he was hiding in order to eavesdrop on his parents, Hermes was barely able to contain his happiness. He had to cover his mouth with both his hands, hoping that that would muffle his cries and yelps of joy.

* * *

"And that settles it," Hermes told the weeping crowd. "That's how me and Apollo met, and how we've become brothers. From that day forward, we stuck together through thick and thin. And our bond has grown a little bit stronger with each trial. This quarantine is no exception."

Just as he was getting up from the couch and limping towards the elevator, Hermes could hear a cry from one of the guards.

"Help, help!" He yelled his lungs out, carrying in his arms what appeared to be a wounded girl of small posture. Her hair was brown, her skin was of a pale complexion reddened by the harsh sun, and she had a bite mark on the right side of her jaw.

"Has she been bitten?" Hermes asked, reaching down to help the girl get to the ground floor. "We need to get her to Leena," he told the guard after he pulled himself up as well. The two of them carried her to the elevator, and then to the sick bay, where Leena greeted them.

"She's seen better days," the nurse observed. "I'll consult her right away and administer a dose of antizin. You go get your brother down here."

Back on the roof, Apollo finished his seventh lap, coming in just two seconds shy of three minutes. Not bad for a beginner, Brecken had told him, though he was surely lying through his teeth just to keep him going. Now up on the crane, he took a few greedy gulps of water to extinguish his thirst, when he heard his brother shout from the other building.

"Apollo! Get your ass to the sick bay!"

"Why? What happened?" he tried yelling back at his brother, though his dry throat didn't allow him to be as loud as he intended.

"You've got a new patient, that's what's happened!"

Turning back towards Brecken and Rahim, they could clearly see he was glad to have a reason to leave.

"Sorry boys," he told them as he was already reaching for the crane's arm, "duty calls."

And with that, the parkour practice was done. At least for today.


	4. Chapter 4: Bromance in the rain

Rain was something that both brothers despised. Yet, in the last week or so, rain was the only thing Haraan had been getting. The downpour was unforgiving, washing away at their very souls, bit by bit, as they were forced to spend their days trapped in the tower. Running was hard enough for both of them under normal circumstances. Rain only added to that, making everything so damn slippery. Every ledge, every puddle of water, and every patch of exposed dirt was a potential hazard, a disaster waiting to happen. Waiting for any runners distracted by the zombies chasing them, only to have them slip and fall over. So the brothers decided it would be better to stay put until the rain would stop.

"I'm so bored..." Apollo suddenly cried out, interrupting Hermes' nap. His only reply was a sharp gaze, having been woken up from a surprisingly pleasant dream. Something he enjoyed rarely these days, as every waking moment felt like a nightmare.

"How can you sleep so much, man?"

"Energy saving mode," Hermes replied with half a mouth, turning away from his brother to face the wall. This was not enough to deter Apollo, who was bent on making his day a bit more interesting, even at the cost of annoying his younger brother. He got up from his bed and strutted over to his desk, making sure every step he took was loud enough to get on Hermes' nerves.

After arriving at his desk, which was just by the window and had their stash laying besides it, he threw himself in the wooden chair, almost falling over along with it. Damn thing was old and rotten, just like everything else in this city. Straightening it's bent foot and making sure it was stable again, he reached for the stash and pulled out a water pipe, a couple of batteries, a broken radio and some power cables. And after finding his roll of duct tape inside one of the drawers, he turned back to the various pieces laying in front of him on the desk, tinkering away to pass the time.  
Hermes was now intrigued enough to take a peek at his brother. He's been at this ever since the rain started, though he never specified exactly what he tried to do. Truth be told, he didn't know himself. He was taping random cables and electronic parts to various blunt weapons, hoping to obtain something more potent than the sum of it's parts.  
Five minutes later, seeing that his brother has no success, Hermes decided he'd seen enough. He turned back towards the wall, hoping to catch some more shut-eye. And soon he did. Apollo however was not so fond of sleeping his days away, so he kept at it, taping and re-taping batteries and cables and various cans of chemicals to whatever could work as a weapon.

Noon was approaching fast, and the clouds were as thick as ever. After his seventh attempt at a basic circuit wrapped around a baseball bat and held together by duct tape and faith, which happened about two hours ago, Apollo gave up on counting his failures. He did not give up on trying just yet though. He switched back to the rusty water pipe, and tried taping the circuit around it. Nothing again.  
'This is officially stupid,' he told himself, ready to throw the damn thing away in his stash and join Hermes in dream land. He grabbed the pipe by it's blunt end, and squeezed his fingers tightly around it to keep all of the cables from flying off. Yet, in doing so, he finally achieved his goal. Something he realized as soon as the sharp electrical shock sent him backwards, finally breaking the chair's leg and sending him to the ground. As he got back up his feet, his grin extended from ear to ear. He grabbed the pipe and made his way back to the desk, adding some more duct tape where he now knew it was needed, and then creeped his way to his brother's bed.

"Yo, Hermes," he said softly, pulling away at his brother's shirt.

"What..."

"I've made a shocking discovery," he yelled out, scaring his brother as he stuck the pipe against his back and pulled the switch, sending poor Hermes crawling up the wall.  
The tower dwellers of the 19th floor heard the screaming, and shortly after a loud crash followed. And then another one, and another one, as Apollo slammed the door of his apartment open in his frantic run for safety. Why he was laughing his heart out was a mystery to everyone except for Hermes, who was following close behind, swinging a water pipe at him, causing Apollo to yelp out in pain every time it managed to touch him. The yelps were however short lived, as he would get back to laughing only moments later.  
The chase continued down the corridor, towards the staircase. Apollo took a hard left, almost tripping and falling, but managed to regain his balance and continued up the stairs. Hermes wasn't so lucky. He kept on running forward and into the wall, but he quickly bounced back and continued the chase. As they were running up the stairs, Hermes managed to trip his brother by grabbing and electrocuting his right ankle with the water pipe. Apollo had no other choice than to continue on all fours until he cleared the flight of stairs. He couldn't risk trying to get back up his feet with his brother on his heels. After getting up, both of them kept running up the stairs, until Apollo could see the door that lead to the rooftop. He sprinted towards it as fast as he could. Hermes expected his brother to burst through it, but that didn't happen. He extended his hands in front of him and stopped himself only inches away from crashing into the door. He then spun around on his heels and dodged to the right, grabbing his brother by his shoulder as he turned. Knowing his momentum was about to be used against him, Hermes tried to stop. But it was to late. Apollo swung him against the door, which burst open, letting him fly and crash outside in the rain. That was it. The last straw.  
Now going down the stairs, Apollo wasn't just running anymore. He was leaping, clearing as many stairs as he could at once without breaking his legs. He went to far this time, but after a week of boredom he couldn't care less. Despite what Hermes would do to him once he'd catch him, he had a blast running around, trying to dodge his own electrifying creation.

As he reached the 20th floor, Apollo tripped and fell. He tumbled over across the hall, only stopping as he reached the wall. He was dizzy and disoriented, and before he knew it, Hermes was on top of him, stopping him from getting up. With the tip of the pipe shoved against his brother's abdomen, Hermes could feel the sweet taste of revenge lining his lips. He pulled the switch, again and again, and it didn't help Apollo that he was sweaty from running around like a mad man.

"Such a shocking turn of events, wouldn't you agree?" Hermes laughed out before pulling the switch one more time. Apollo was ready for another shock, but it didn't come.

"The batteries finally ran out..." he blurted out at his brother after catching his breath. And after he pushed Hermes off of him and onto his own ass, they both broke out in laughter, leaving everyone watching surprised. They were sure Hermes would end him, that's how pure the bloodlust in his eyes was a few moments ago.

"Dude, you're mad," Hermes eventually told his brother as they were helping each other up. "Why did you even make this thing?"

"I was bored. It might be useful though."  
Apollo reached for the pipe in Hermes' hand, but his brother denied him and shoved the pipe in one of his belt loops. There was no way he would let Apollo have it again. They were ready to head back to their room and fix the door, when Ayo walked up to them and stopped them.

"Ayo, what's up?" Apollo asked curiously. Although the two brothers weren't officially runners, Ayo would occasionally ask them to complete a task or run an errand for him. And that was especially true these days, as the tower's population grew, and more runners were needed to bring in essential supplies. Ayo was, however, short handed. Many capable men and women turned him down on a pair of running shoes, for good reasons.

'And now he'll ask us to wear them again.'

"Brecken wants to speak with you two. Said it's important."

"What could Brecken want from us?" Hermes asked, turning towards his brother to find him shrugging, and just as confused as him.

"Beats me," Ayo continued, scratching his cheek. "It's not just you though. He asked me to gather every man and woman able to run. And you two are able, so I'm here telling you this."

"Able kind of stretches it," Apollo said sarcastically, "but yeah, we get by. I guess we should pay him a visit, see what he wants."  
The two brothers turned their backs on Ayo, ready to head for the headquarters. Or the room that was assigned as their headquarters anyways.

"Four o' clock," Ayo told them, making both of them stop.

"Got it," Hermes replied, turning around once again, along with his brother. As they were making their way back to their room, Apollo checked his watch. 2:30 PM. That left them with plenty of time to fix their door and get ready for the meeting.  
And an hour later, after hammering the upper hinge back in place, they both got to digging through their wardrobes. Hermes threw shirt after shirt out of his, and onto his bed, and he sighed each time he did so. Apollo could hear him mumbling to himself.

"This one's bloody, this one's dirty, this one's torn..."  
As much as he hated his brother's pickyness, he could understand it, as he faced the same problem himself. Every shirt they owned was either stained with blood and guts, or torn apart by wear and tear, and sometimes even hands and teeth. And not only zombie ones either. That's what playing field medics got them in here. Resources were scarce, people grew desperate, and that drove some of them to try and hurt their own kind.

'I guess this one's as good as any,' Apollo eventually resigned, as he found a plain white shirt, with a skull emblem wide across it's chest. It was laid on a bed of roses that turned to blood as they approached the bottom of the design, starting to trickle down into drops. And even though he couldn't tell for sure if all of it was part of the design or not, he pushed it over his head and down his shoulders, trying his best to force it down against his sweaty skin.

"Bro, hand me some scissors."

After forcing the shirt down, Apollo grabbed a pair of scissors from the desk and extended his hand towards his brother, not paying any attention to what he was doing. He however pulled his hand back the moment he noticed what his brother was holding in his right hand: a leather jacket, in more or less good condition.

"What do you need the scissors for?"

By the roll of his brother's eyes, followed by a tired "really?", Apollo quickly understood.

"Please, can you not?"

"You know I need to."

"I'll trade you for it. Look. I've got this already-sleeveless jacket."  
Hermes shook his head, turning away as he tossed his brother the leather jacket, his arm outstretched to receive the sleeveless jeans jacket. It was clean and it looked sturdy enough.

'Not an imitation either,' Hermes noted as he grabbed it and felt the material between his fingers. 'Not a big fan of the washed-out blue though...'  
He resigned however, and slipped the jacket over his shoulders. Now that they were both dressed, they headed for the headquarters. There were 15 minutes left until Brecken expected everyone to be there, yet they were sure they'd be the last ones to arrive. They skipped knocking and opened the double doors widely, entering side by side.

As they entered the room filled with familiar faces, they realized they were right. Everyone was already there. The tension in the room was high, and their empty eyes rolling around were giving off a suffocating sense of dread and ominosity. Apollo was the first one to talk, breaking the engulfing silence.

"All right people, what is this all about?"  
Hermes continued.

"By your looks, I'm guessing it's nothing good."  
Brecken got off the table he was sitting on, and approached the two brothers slowly.

"You're right, Hermes," he said as he got half-way to them, allowing the words to roll off of his tongue slowly. He was hoping to get them ready for what he would tell them, and it seemed to be working. To some degree anyway.

"A drop was announced this morning. Antizin."

"But that's great news!" Apollo interrupted.

"Sure sounds like it, right?" Brecken continued ignoring Apollo's and Hermes' growing smiles. "And it would be, if it were delivered by helicopter."

"Wait a sec, don't tell me..." Hermer tried to butt in, but Brecken cut him short and continued his line.

"It's going to be dropped by a plane passing by. The wind could have it land anywhere in the city..."

"...and we'll have to hunt it down." Apollo realized, color draining from his face. "Why? How can they do this to us?"

"Apparently," Brecken continued, "they deemed a helicopter landing to dangerous. Like it or not, we have to roll with it. We need that antizin."

"And that's where we come in. Am I right?" Hermes asked, his enthusiasm clearly withered.

"Unfortunately, yes." Brecken made his way back to the table. "Are the two of you in?"

The two brothers exchanged a few quick looks back and forth before Apollo answered.

"What's the plan?"

Hearing those words, Brecken felt somewhat relieved. Out of everyone present in the room, they were among the half that accepted. They were still short handed, but every single soul could make a world of difference out there.

* * *

That was more than an hour ago. The clock turned to five pm, as the two brothers cleared out the upper floor of a house in the cauldron. Brecken's plan was stunningly simple, yet elegant. He spread out his runners as thin as possible, to cover most of the city. When the drop would be, well, dropped, the closest runners would get to it asap and recover the antizin. Not much to go wrong. Except that out in the city, anything and everything could go wrong.

Apollo was squeezing at his drenched shirt, hoping to get most of the rain water out of it. The trek here was brutal to say the least, with rain constantly beating down on them as if trying to end the city's suffering. And a cold, he reckoned, was the last thing he'd need. Meanwhile Hermes dragged the last corpse by it's shoulders, and threw it overboard in the streets below. He couldn't stand the stench, and found the only use in rain to be that it managed to wash away everything, even the ever-present stench of decay that no one in his opinion could get used to. Or shouldn't need to as a matter of fact.

After the dirty deed was done, and the once-human-but-not-anymore was disposed of, Hermes joined his brother on the couch, pulling off his boots and socks. As he poured the water out of his boots with a splashy sound accompanying it, he turned to face his brother. This would be one heck of a run, and they both knew it.

 **A/N: To Taffer and the maybe other 2 people that stumbled across my story, I'm deeply sorry for being a lazy piece of shit. I won't promise anything, I won't give a date for the next chapter, I just want to let you know that I'm still alive.**


	5. Chapter 5: Fucktown

Time was flying by as the two brothers awaited the drop. They were still wet, though they accepted that fact about an hour ago. Hermes made himself comfortable in the cushy armchair he dragged by the door, watching the sky towards the antenna. Apollo on the other hand was pacing around the room, once in a while peeking through the window opposite to Hermes. All he could see was the overpass anyway. No plane, no drop, and certainly no antizin. Only the overpass, the gray skies and the neverending rain.  
Hermes looked at his watch. Just a bit over two hours until nightfall. He let his hand rest on the armrest, with his trusty, rusted, and bloodstained machete within reach, and started running some math through his head. When he was done, he turned to his brother.

"Hey Apollo, for how long will we wait here?"

"Don't know. Until the crates drop I guess," Apollo answered his brother, looking out the window.

"Dude, the treck back to the tower would take us well over half an hour if nothing bad happens."

"Shit tends to always happen though," Apollo said in a voice as dry as he wished to be right now.

"I know. And with this fuckin' rain it would definitely take longer. With two more hours until fucktown comes around, we'll have to leave in about an hour if the drop doesn't come," Hermes continued, this time more worried. Night runs scared the crap out of him. A night run in the rain was something he hoped he'd never have to do.

"And with these thick clouds blocking the sun," Apollo added after a long pause, "the nightmares might come out even sooner."

"Then it's settled. We'll leave in an hour." Apollo nodded his head in agreement, then resumed looking out the window.

And with that, Hermes proceeded to rest his head on his left shoulder, feeling the allure of a short nap tempting him. The only thing chasing it away was the cold, damp wind blowing through the open apartment.

* * *

"Hermes, do you hear that?" Apollo asked his brother before making his way over to him. When he saw Hermes snoozing off, he slapped the back of his head, jolting him awake.

"I can't believe you. You just can't be real."

"Wha..."

"Get up now. I can hear the plane. We have to see where the drop lands."

Despite being asleep a few moments ago, Hermes jumped out of his chair. He grabbed his machete and slid it in one of his belt loops, then got out the door. Apollo followed shortly behind him, his gaze darting across the sky, trying to pinpoint the airplane. And soon enough it emerged from behind the antenna. It was flying low, beneath the clouds, though not by much. It dropped a crate with a white and yellow parachute attached to it so it wouldn't crash to the ground, and then another one as it reached the cauldron. That was their signal.

Apollo was the first one to jump onto the roof of the neighboring house, followed closely behind by Hermes, who almost didn't make the jump. Apollo grabbed his hand and pulled him up on his feet, and they started running towards the crate that was now touching down on a roof four streets away. As soon as it landed, a signal flare went up and popped right above it, for anyone and everyone to see.

'Shit,' Apollo thought, and shit it was indeed. The two brothers reached the next street, and Apollo fell behind, allowing Hermes to jump first. As soon as his brother cleared the leap, he followed closely behind. He landed with a wet thump on the concrete roof, and almost slipped, but managed to regain his balance before that happened, and kept on running. One roof down, two more to go.

They cleared the next two roofs in no time, and the barren house now laying in front of them was the one.

'It just had to have an upper floor,' Apollo complained to himself. He then pulled out his hatchet and smashed a window for him and Hermes to crawl through, trying his best to get as much of the glass and frame to pop out. From behind him, his brother pushed past and rushed in though the window. A biter greeted him inside, but he had better plans than being it's dinner. So he shoved it against the wall and took to the stairs, with Apollo only now entering through the window. Seeing the undead stumbling around, Apollo grabbed it by it's shoulders and rushed it towards another window, throwing it through it like a rag doll, and then turned around to face the stairs as well.

Up on the roof, he saw his brother struggling to open the crate, so he pushed him aside. He then took a few blows with his hatchet at the locks holding the straps in place.

"Voila!" He told Hermes, and then opened up the crate. Hermes rolled his eyes, then took off his backpack. Apollo looked at his watch. 20:17. He rushed to the other crate and broke it's locks as well, then told his brother as he lifted the lid.

"Take the antizin and let's go! We've got about 40 minutes to make it back to the tower."

"Way ahead of you," Hermes replied, zipping up his bag. A few moments later, Apollo was done as well. He got up and took a step forward, but a deafening boom sent him on his belly. Hermes, who also dove for safety, crawled over to his brother and tried to speak, but Apollo stopped him.

"Did you get them?" A voice echoed from the street below.

"I don't know. Be careful just in case," another voice answered it.

Apollo pointed at the next building, then sneaked up to the crates. He checked a few of the boxes before he grabbed one, then lifted three fingers. His brother tensed up and pushed one knee below himself, preparing for what would follow. Apollo put down one of his fingers, then threw the box off of the roof in the opposite direction. It landed in the street below, the cans inside it rattling wildly.

"Who's there?!" a third voice could be heard, along with wet, rushed footsteps.

Apollo put down another finger, paused for a second, then as he put down his last finger he got up and started running. Hermes was already on his feet and bolting, only a couple of steps away from the edge of the roof. He jumped towards the other roof with all his might. He could not afford to mess this up, and fortunately he didn't. He landed with a hollow thud on the rusty metal sheets, and he heard a fourth voice coming from the street he just leaped over.

"You idiots! They're here!"

Then a few gunshots claimed the silence that had fallen all around them by now. He turned his head around, only to see Apollo landing safely on the other side and breaking out in a sprint.

"Bro!" he yelled.

"I'm fine! Keep running!" Apollo replied, his breath growing heavier with every step. More gunshots cracked at the air behind them, and with each deafening boom, more and more howling voices could be heard waking up for dinner. Damn virals, the brothers thought. This one time though, they felt relief rather than horror, hearing those rotten cries.  
The few connected rooftops were quickly coming to an end. Apollo sprinted and outran his brother, then he covered his face with both his arms before jumping through the window of a two-story house. Hermes followed shortly after, and Apollo grabbed him by his hand and pushed him to the floor. An inhuman yell made itself heard from below their window, then the spastic footsteps followed. One set, two sets, three sets. Apollo was struggling to count them and pinpoint their location. One was on the roof, and by the loud, splashy noise that followed he deduced it jumped down. Another one was beneath the window they burst through just a couple moments ago, and one was right below the balcony in front of them.

A sudden aarrrghhh made them jump on the spot, then the following gunfire got them both to their feet and back at running. Hermes busted through the rickety plank door separating this room from the outside world, and got to the balcony. His brother slipped by him, seeing as he seized in the doorway, and then tried to turn him around. Hermes on the other hand had something else to focus on. He pointed his finger at the raised street laying 7 feet in front of them, and Apollo considered for a moment to not look, as he already knew nothing good would come of it. He yielded after a couple moments and spun his head around, right in time to see a sickening white mass of muscles and bones and death pushing over the sewer lid.

"Next stop: fucktown..." Hermes whispered to his brother.

The glowing yellow eyes of the creature scanned the street in front of it for a couple of seconds before letting out a haunting howl. Apollo grabbed Hermes by his shoulders, then spun him around to face the brick wall.

"UP! NOW!" he yelled, his hands cupped together below his waist. Hermes complied and slipped his left foot in his brother's palms. Apollo gave him a not-so-gentle boost up the wall, because 'fuck gentle right now', and then seeing as his brother was slipping back down on the slimey wall battered by rain, he pushed his ass up as well. Up on the roof and with no time to spare, Hermes rolled over just in time to see the volatile making a beeline for the railing, ready to pounce on the balcony. He quickly offered Apollo his hand, but his brother's gaze was locked on the volatile.

"Apollo! Snap out of it!"  
His words seemed to bounce right off of his brother, as Apollo didn't turn around. He pushed his right foot behind him and bent his left knee.

"NO!" Hermes yelled out loud, but it was in vain. The volatile jumped over the railing and was now flying through the air, straight for the balcony, and straight for Apollo. Just as it got within reach of it though, Apollo charged forward and hit it with his shoulder. The creature lost it's grip on the wet railing of the balcony and fell in the streets below, howling in anger. Apollo turned around and grabbed his brother's hand. Hermes helped him up on the roof.

"Are you fucking insane?! What was that?!"

"Just jump already!" Apollo yelled back, feeling as if this run was now turning into a yelling contest. He then took a step back and started running. Hermes was right behind him as well, and right behind the both of them, a few bullets followed. They landed on the raised street in front of them. Apollo took the lead and began running for the closest building in sight. He tried sliding beneath the half-open shutter of what was once a shop. It quickly became apparent that simply throwing yourself on your behind mid-run and hoping for the best wasn't the right way to slide, even though the ground was all kinds of muddy and wet, so he resigned and crawled on all fours until he was in. The next moment Hermes' head popped into view from beneath the rusty stutter as well. He got up and started doing some catching up on breathing, since he skipped it for the past two streets. Apollo got to the metal door and tried to slide it shut, rusty rails and bearings crying out into the night as he did so. Hermes joined him and the door quickly touched the ground, not a moment to soon. A viral's annoyed cry could be heard from behind it, followed shortly after by meaty scratches and bangs against the metal.

Apollo pointed towards the stairs lining up and along one of the walls, and Hermes followed closely behind. They got to the upper floor, a thick metal door blocking their access to the balcony. Apollo kneeled down besides it, and pulled a lockpick out of one of his back pockets. Hermes applied his weight against a wardrobe, knocking it over and covering the hole in the floor through which they crawled up. That earned him an angry stare from his brother. He then got down below the only window of the room, his sight darting back and forth between it and his brother trying his best to lockpick the door open.

"Okay Apollo, what now?" Hermes eventually asked. Apollo searched his mind, trying to add up all the shit going down around them. Carry over a two, divide it all by fuck, and the result is a huge mess.

"Are those guys still trailing us?" he eventually asked his brother. The first pin gave way to his lockpick. Hermes looked out the window and saw the head of a viral burst open before it fell from the roof it was on.

"Yeah," he answered, ducking back down.

"We have to lose them first. Then we need to make our way back to the tower. I've checked the street ahead before, and if I'm right, there should be a couple of blue vans beneath this balcony. We use them to cross the street, then those huge-ass water pipes should be only a few rooftops away. If we follow them we will eventually end up in front of the tower."

There were one to many ifs in Apollo's plan for Hermes' liking.

"Can't we just run on the roofs to my right? If I remember correctly there should be a safe zone a few blocks away."

"You mean the courtyard? Yeah I guess..." Pin number two gave way. Hermes peeked out the window once again, and spotted three yellow stripes in the street, a couple of houses away from them. He ducked back down.

"Yellow stripes..." Apollo could hear his brother mumbling. Great. Rais's people. If there was one thing in this city worse than the biters, then it had to be Rais and his men.

Merciless thugs and thieves, bent on making this hellhole even shittier for everyone else.

"I'll pick this door," Apollo suddenly spoke up, "and then we'll wait. If we lose Rais' grunts, we'll head for the safe zone." Pin number three gave way. "If not, we'll have to head for the tower and hope we'll lose them on the way."

More gunshots could be heard from outside, nearing their position. After a few agonizing moments of silence, Hermes decided to peek out the window. He gently pushed himself up, and then froze in fear as his eyes met the sick, yellow glow of those of a volatile. The fourth pin finally gave way, just as the creature broke through the glass and into the tiny room, accompanied from behind by gunfire. Hermes jumped back and fell on his ass. Still crouched down besides the door, Apollo promptly soiled his pants. He then turned the handle and opened the door just in time for Hermes to fly through it and out on the balcony. He quickly followed along, shutting the door behind him. The volatile bounced off of it, and then let out a "call to the feast" type of howl. The echoing replies that followed only moments later meant that the city was finally waking up from it's daytime slumber.

"Shit! What now?" Hermes asked his brother.

"Tower!" Apollo replied, pointing at the blue vans that were indeed beneath the balcony. He then jumped over the railing and onto the van, the sound of bending metal attracting the attention of the entire street. He took a few uneasy steps on the wet roof, feeling his feet try to slide from under him each time.

Apollo reached the front of the van and prepared to jump onto the next one, yet his heart froze as he heard a hollow crash coming right from behind him. He turned around and saw Hermes toppling over a biter in the streets below. The creature screeched, and Apollo could see more and more biters turning around and shuffling towards the noise. He jumped down from the van and approached his brother, removing his hatchet from it's belt loop and preparing it up for blood.

"Hermes, get up." He cried out, but his brother failed to answer him. He got close and cracked the biter's head, then tried lifting his brother up. His whole body was limp, yet his neck was stiff.

"Shit shit shit!" He stuttered, as the realization hit him. His brother hit his head on his way down, and it knocked him out cold. He dragged him over to the van and propped him against it, slapping his face lightly.

"Come on, Hermes! Don't do this to me. Wake up!" His cries remained unanswered. The sounds of shuffling feet and mouths gurgling on blood however were not. Apollo got up and turned around to face a handful of zombies. He tightened his grip on the hatchet's handle and whipped it at the skull of the first biter. It stumbled over and fell, half it's head exposed to air. The next one approached Apollo with it's hands extended and grabbed at his jacket, but he was quick to crouch and throw the damn thing over his head. A couple stumps later, it was out cold as well. Two down, three more to go. Apollo reached for his ear piece and turned on his radio.

"Ayo, come in!" Static. "Brecken, come in!" Static again. "Amir, Jade, anyone. God damn this rotten city."

He left his radio on and made his way to the next walking corpse and struck it's head. It fell on it's knees, with the hatchet firmly locked in it's skull. Apollo put his left foot on it's neck and pushed, and pulled, and then pushed some more, but he couldn't free it. He eventually resigned, seeing as the last two biters were getting closer. He pushed the biter in front of him over and stumped on the hatchet, driving it further in it's head. It's hands fell on the ground. Dead. He then grabbed the next one and threw him away, trying to break them up. It stumbled over to the sidewalk, and it's head burst open.

'Shit, they didn't lose us.'

"Apollo. Come in." Hearing Ayo yell in his earpiece, Apollo almost jumped out of his skin. He made his way back to the van and ducked down, trying to listen for Rais' goons as well.

"Apollo, come in." The voice sounded more worried this time.

"Apollo here. Ayo, we've got a situation."

"What?"

"Shit hit the fan. Hermes tripped and got knocked out, and I've got biters and volatiles and some of Rais' goons on my tail. I have to ditch him."

"You what?" Ayo exclaimed surprised.

"We're near the courtyard safehouse," Apollo continued, grabbing Hermes by his shoulders and laying him down on the ground.

"I've got to run, I can't stay put. And I can't drag Hermes along." He then shoved his brother beneath the van and made his way on all fours to the closest dead biter. He grabbed it by it's shoulders and dragged it towards the van.

"I've hid him under one of these blue vans. He's safe," he continued, grabbing his brother's machete and sinking it in the biter's stomach. It's guts spilled out onto the pavement. Apollo could feel the putrid smell burning his nostrils, despite the torrential rainfall doing it's best to wash it away. He then pushed the biter under the van, right next to Hermes.

"Who's there?!" a rough voice could be heard approaching the van on the other side.

"I've got to go, Ayo. Promise me you'll send someone to get him first thing in the morning."

Static.

"Ayo. Please..." His voice denounced dread.

"I'll see what I can do," Ayo eventually spoke up after a few moments.

"Please. Promise."

"Fine, dammit," Ayo told him, his voice sounding already tired. "But you've got to promise me you'll make it back as well."

Apollo swallowed the bitter bile building up in his throat. He was not about to make an empty promise, even though he accepted one just a few moments ago. An _"I'll see what I can do"_ had to cut it. He closed the radio and got up.

'Okay, let's do this. Sorry, little brother.' Apollo threw the machete under the van as well, then turned around to face the sidewalk. He ran towards it, in full view of the goons.

"Let's split! You go that way," he said pointing away from himself, "and I'll go this way!" And just as expected, he was met with gunfire. He jumped for cover besides a corner, frantically looking around for any way out of this mess. He propped himself against the wall, looking for any shot wounds. He felt relieved when he found none. The silence that fell on the street however was unnerving. Except from the occasional howl or growl from the biters, it was dead silent. He was expecting the goons to jump him any second now and riddle him with lead. He leaned over, hoping to peek behind the corner without his head blowing up.

Suddenly, from up the balcony, he heard a crash, then some more gunfire. So the volatile finally broke down the door. He took his chance and got back on the sidewalk, hoping to make it to the safe zone while the goons were being mauled. He could hear the guns ripping the silence to shreds, and the volatile cry out each time a bullet made contact. Then an _'arrrgghhhh'_ followed shortly, and as he spun his head around he could see the creature on top of one of the goons, tearing into his neck. The other two continued shooting it, to no avail. It got back up and grabbed one of them by his hand, throwing him to the ground. It then bit the other one by his left leg as he tried to crawl away.

The safe zone was only a block away. Apollo was however slowing down with each cry of pain he heard. He couldn't just jump over the fence and allow two human beings to die such gruesome deaths, despite who they were and what they've done. His whole body was fighting him back, trying to pick up speed, but he'd have none of it. He turned around and looked at the scene unfolding a few blocks away. Despite being down for the count, the two men were still trying to fight back. So he started running towards them.

Two blocks away. 'Okay Apollo, you've got this.' One block away. 'Just like Hermes showed you.' He tensed up his entire body. He raised his shoulders and tucked his head behind his left one. The volatile raised it's head and looked at him. To little to late though. Apollo plowed right into it and knocked it down. It tumbled over and got back up, shrieking in anger.

"Don't just stand there! Shoot it!" Apollo yelled at the two bloodied men. One of them reached for his rifle and popped a few more bullets into the volatile as it was running for Apollo. It lost it's balance, and Apollo seized the moment, tackling it to the ground a second time. He tried stumping it's head, but it got it's feet below him and pushed him off. He was thrown back hard, and lost his balance. The volatile got back up it's feet and pounced on him, pinning him to the ground. It then tried to bite his neck, but was met with a fist in it's nose. Apollo shoved his right foot below himself and grabbed the creature by it's head, then pushed as hard as he could. They both rolled over, with him now on top, trying his best to hold it still. It tried to claw at his hands and bite, so Apollo dove his elbow in it's face. It struggled and fought back, and it's force was astounding. Despite his best efforts, despite his muscles crying out in pain as they were reaching their limit, Apollo knew he wouldn't last long.

"Some...help...please..." Apollo eventually managed to spout out. He struck the volatile once again with his elbow, pinning it's head to the ground, then got as close to it as possible to avoid it's claws as well. It was flailing around from beneath him, trying to grasp at his back, or at least tear it to shreds.

"Here, catch!" One of the goons eventually said, pulling out an army knife and tossing it to him. It landed right next to a very disappointed Apollo. He lifted his elbow from the creature's face and reached for the knife. It's head snapped up, aimed at his neck. Fortunately it missed, but the jagged teeth still found their way to his shoulder. They sunk into the leather jacket and crushed whatever they encountered beneath. Apollo recoiled from the pain, just as his fingers were reaching the handle of the knife. He jumped off of the volatile and grabbed the knife. By the time he was back on his feet, the creature was already charging him. He took a couple of steps towards it and crouched at the last moment, slamming his right shoulder into it's abdomen, hoping to tackle it once again. Unfortunately, the volatile's momentum was much bigger than his. It's knee met his nose, and he could feel warm blood running down his face. He got to the ground and grabbed it by both anckles, pulling them back as hard as he could. The creature toppled over on it's back, howling in anger as Apollo pounced it.

"Just..." Apollo's elbow dove into the volatile's jaw.

"...shut..." It tried to bite him by his neck once again.

"...your fucking..." He dodged to the right and took the knife's blade to it's nape, piercing it's skin and popping it against the wet and bloody asphalt.

"...mouth!" The headbutt that ensued finally sealed the deal. The volatile's head jolted upwards, it's jaws wide open, yet as they met his neck they didn't bite down. They fell away, lifeless and limp. Apollo wanted to collapse on top of it, his entire body reeking of pain and fatigue. The rotten screams that were threatening to engulf the street however changed his mind. He got up, dizzy and shaking from the adrenaline rush, and stumbled over to one of the goons.

"You...ok?" He blurted out between greedy gulps of air rushing in and out of his lungs. He didn't wait for the answer. These days he was unsure of how exactly ok was defined. He was sure though that _'bitten on the leg by a volatile'_ didn't fall in that category. He reached down and offered the injured man a hand. He grabbed it with hesitation and was lifted up to his feet, unable to step on the one that's been bitten. Apollo threw his left arm over his shoulder and turned around. The other goon was already on his feet. Seeing him alright, Apollo considered for a moment to punch him and break his nose as well, for not helping even though he was able. He quickly changed his mind however as he was met with a stare of utmost despair. A stare he forgot somewhere between joining the tower and here, but with which he'd been more than familiar up to that point. So he relented.

"Come on. Let's get out of this fucking rain."

 **A/N:** Sorry if the latter half feels clunky. My laptop messed up when I tried to save and bluescreened, and I had to rewrite most of it.


	6. Chapter 6: Downhill at full speed

They got to the fence of the safe zone. Apollo gave a push to the hurt grunt, getting him up and over the rusty gate. Grunt number 2 provided them cover with the last clip of ammo he had for the rifle. Apollo got up the fence himself, his bloodied hands slipping on a patch of cracked blue paint.

"Give me you hand!" he demanded. Grunt number 2 shot an approaching viral in it's leg, before turning around. The viral stumbled over and fell, yelling it's rotten lungs out in anger. It tried to get up, but was pushed to the ground by a volatile rushing by. Apollo pulled the grunt up on the fence right in time. The volatile crashed into the gate, sending both of them down on the ground. Apollo got to his feet and rushed to the hurt grunt. He tried walking to the house by himself, though he only made it half-way there before his bitten leg didn't allow him to go further. Apollo grabbed his arm and they started limping to the safe house. Only now did they notice that it wasn't as safe as they'd hoped. The UV lights were down, there was nothing that would deter the dead. Grunt number two was right behind them, panting wildly and begging them to hurry.

Crossing the yard felt like it took hours. They dragged their feet through the mud, slipping all over the place. Apollo lost his balance once, and almost dragged the hurt man to the ground with him. He stopped himself with his left hand and jolted back to his feet, ignoring the palm that got pierced by a nailed plank on his way to the ground. They got to the door. Apollo tried turning the handle. It didn't budge, and he could feel his heart skip a beat. He turned his face to the gate. A volatile was on top of it, and in the next moment it was down on the ground, charging them. Apollo tried the handle again, leaning against it will all his weight. It squealed and cried, rusty metal gears turning for the first time in God knew how long. And then it clicked. Apollo could feel his knees melt down into a hot mess, as they awaited a much deserved break. He pushed the door open, rushing the hurt man inside and following him closely. Grunt number two popped another bullet in the volatile, before bolting for safety behind the door himself. He closed it and locked the latch, leaning against it and breathing heavily. He got startled and jumped back as the volatile collided with the door.

"Lantern!" Apollo yelled from behind him, snapping him out of his trance.

"The door!" He responded, his stomach tied into tight knots by fear.

"It'll hold," Apollo tried reassuring him, "unlike your friend. We have to move fast."

Apollo pulled the sleeping bag off of the mattress and laid grunt number one on it. He was bleeding profusely, his skin turned pale and his breathing heavy.

"Do you have a knife?" Grunt number two's face turned just as pale as his friend's.

"Wh...what..."

Apollo kneeled down besides the mattress, frantically searching the small medicine pouch he pulled out from beneath his shirt.

"Cut up his pant sleeve. I need to get a better look at the damage."

Grunt number two approached the mattress. With shaky hands, he pulled a butcher's knife out of it's improvised hilt. It wasn't ideal, but it would suffice. Or so he'd hoped anyway. He grabbed his friend's foot, holding onto it tightly, and began cutting away at the torn material.

"Try to cut a few longer pieces if you can. We need to improvise a tourniquet to stop the bleeding," Apollo blabbered between the rattles of the pouch he searched. Finding that damn injector should've been easy. Not in the faint light of his small, dying flashlight however. And certainly not with shaky fingers, flailing wildly between various bottles with questionable contents at best.

"Okay, what now?" Grunt number two asked, holding a couple of long pieces of cloth.

"Tie them tightly, right below his knee."

He leaned over, and Apollo stopped him with the palm of his right hand.

"And by tight, I mean as tight as you can manage," he continued. He then made his way around grunt number two, trying to decide where to best administer the shot of antizin he'd prepared.

'His arms won't do,' he thought, 'the antizin would spread to slowly.' He got to his neck, and pressed his index finger against his trachea. A weak pulse pushed back at it every so often.

'His neck won't do either, it'll spread to fast. Think, Apollo, think...'

All of the thick textbooks he read in his three years as a medical student were now miraculously escaping him. He could remember faint outlines of words and anatomic pictures of various kinds, but their meanings were beyond his grasp. He learned how to be a medic, but he never learned how to be a real medic. He hated how his fingers started shaking whenever an emergency would strike. He hated the fact that his mind would shut down under the stress. But most of all he hated that he would cave in from the pressure of holding a fading life in his hands.

He looked at grunt number two, hoping to distract himself if even for a second. Maybe then, his mind would cobble itself together for just long enough to come up with a solution.

"Let's wrap this up before he turns and tries to bite us," grunt number two mumbled to him as he tied the last knot.

'Bite. Rabies. You go for the abdomen, duh...'

Apollo swiveled around on the spot and reached for grunt number one's shirt. He pulled it up, revealing his abdomen. It was rising and falling ever so slightly under his labored breath. He placed the injector three inches above his waistline, and pulled the trigger. The needle pierced his skin with a weak pop, and Apollo's eyes fixated on the bottle of antizin as it drained. He stopped it when a quarter of the bottle emptied, then pulled out a small piece of cloth and some rubbing alcohol from his pouch. After a few quick dabs on the cloth, Apollo handed the rest of the bottle to grunt number two.

"It's not the best candidate, but I can't for the life of me find any hydrogen peroxide, so it'll do." Grunt number two took the bottle with hesitation. Apollo cleaned the needle of the injector before stashing it back in the pouch, and then procured a roll of bandage from there as well.

"How big's that pouch of yours?" Grunt number two asked in amazement.

"Big enough," Apollo replied before pulling out a gauze sponge as well. He reached his hand for the grunt's butcher knife, then cut the sponge in two. "Your shirt," Apollo told him as he made his way around him.

"My shirt what?"

"Take it off."

"What?"

"I need to clean as much of the blood as I can before I try to disinfect the wound," Apollo replied as he leaned over grunt number one's bitten leg. The bleeding slowed down, but it didn't stop entirely. "I only have one sponge on me, I can't waste it with on cleaning the blood."

Grunt number two obliged. He took off his jacket, then tried to push the shirt up over his head against his sweaty, rain-drenched skin. It came off eventually, and he threw it in Apollo's outstretched hand. Feeling the cold, damp excuse of a shirt land on his arm, Apollo let out a sigh.

'It'd do," he thought. He began dabbing the wound with it, trying to remove both the fresh blood still gushing out, and the scabs that were already forming. Grunt number two crawled on all fours to grunt number one's side, placing his right hand on his forehead.

"You'll be alright, Bulut. You'll be fine. You have to be," he lamented, trying his best to hope against all odds.

'Grunt number one has been promoted to Bulut,' Apollo noted as he kept on dabbing the wound.

"What's your name?" He found himself asking grunt number two after a few moments of silence.

"My name's Doruk," he mumbled after a moment's thought, his sight still fixated on Bulut's pale face.

"Name's Apollo. I'm sorry we've met in these circumstances by the way. I'm sure you and your friend are good people."

"Brother. Bulut is my older brother," Doruk corrected Apollo. Hearing that, Apollo's heart sunk from his chest and all the way to the floor.

* * *

The next few minutes passed in silence. The cleaning was half-assed at best, but after using his own shirt as well, Apollo ran out of decently clean rugs he could use.

"Hand me the rubbing alcohol, Doruk," he said, outstretching his arm. He dripped a not-so-generous amount of it on one half of the sponge, as it was in short supply, and then proceeded to carefully rub the wound with it.

"Here," he said, handing Doruk the roll of clean bandages, "open it. I'll press the other sponge to the wound, and you bandage around it. Make it tight, but don't overdo it. The wound needs room to breathe."

Doruk made his way next to Apollo. With a curious look for a change, he unraveled the roll of bandage. When he was done, he cut one of the ends along it's length for 10 inches, strapping the two resulting threads around the upper end of the wound and making a loose knot out of them. He then began wrapping the wound, making his down on it, careful to keep the gauze where Apollo had placed it. Down, then up, then down again, and soon enough the bandage ran out. He cut the other end as well, and made another knot, this time tighter.

"And we're done," Apollo sighed in relief. He made his way to Bulut's head, to check his temperature, pulse and breathing.

'Nothing stellar,' he concluded after finding a weak heartbeat and heavy, labored breaths, 'but at least they're still going...'

"Where do you know all of this from?" Doruk asked as he got up his feet.

"I'm a medic. Well, not quite a medic yet, but I was getting there..."

"A noble profession. A noble profession indeed..." Doruk mumbled as he dragged the sleeping bag Apollo had cast aside next to the mattress. Now that he was done with his unexpected patient, Apollo wanted to get back to the matter at hand: rescuing his brother. He got up his feet and made his way to the door, leaning close to it, hoping to scope out the situation out there. The rain was pouring just as unforgiving as ever, and he could still hear the volatiles growling along the courtyard. Going out was still a no-go. With a heavy heart, he resigned, and made his way to the corner of the room opposite to the door. He sat down, with his back against the cold wall, flaky paint coming off of it as he brushed against it.

"I can't leave yet," Apollo spoke up after a few minutes of silence, catching Doruk's attention, "but I hope that, when morning rolls around, we can go our separate ways in peace."

His request was met with silence, and in his book, silence usually meant no. He didn't give up though, giving it another try.

"Can we, Doruk?"

"Yes," he answered after a few moments filled with soul-crushing silence, "you have my word."

"Great. I'll check up on your brother again in the morning. If he makes it past this night, he's gonna be fine."

Apollo knew that Bulut's chance was slim at best. Yet, while he still worried for his life, he didn't worry too much for theirs. A triple dose of antizin would be sure to keep him from turning for a full day after he'd die. Feeling the sweet allure of a well deserved nap, Apollo allowed himself to slide down against the wall, all the way to the floor. He bunched up in the corner, his right hand for a pillow, and he soon felt his grip on reality loosen as he fell asleep.

* * *

 _After what felt like an eternity, the crowd finally dissipated. Most of his body was in pain, and a hard hit to the head had left his ears ringing and his mind spinning like a merry-go-round. Still, as dizzy as he was, he knew he had to get up. He propped himself against the body now lying lifeless besides him, and pushed himself half-way up, before letting it go and getting up the rest of the way on his own._

 _"Hermes..."_

 _His voice was weak and trembling with fear. The fear that he would be heard by the wrong people, but also by the bigger fear that the one person he wanted to be heard by would not be able to hear him anymore. Looking around, he decided to call out one more time. His world was still spinning too wildly for him to make out anything useful on the corpse-littered floor._

 _"Hermes." This time louder. "Hermes!" This time even more so. "GODDAMIT HERMES! TELL ME YOU'RE ALL RIGHT!" Screaming his lungs out, he began shambling around, looking for his brother who wouldn't answer his calls. His world began to settle down, allowing him to distinguish some details. Enough he hoped to make out his brother from the crowd of downed people._

 _After shambling around for what felt like hours, he finally spotted Hermes. He got to him, and quickly kneeled besides him. He grabbed his left hand to check his pulse. To his horror, he could suddenly feel something warm and sticky trickling down his hand. Blood. His brother's blood. This wasn't good. The biter got him, and it got him good. His mind began wondering, trying to guess what would follow, and what would be the best course of action. He needed to stop the spread of the virus, that was top priority. He grabbed his own shirt and ripped a few long strips of material, tying them tightly on Hermes' left shoulder. That would work just like a tourniquet, hopefully holding his infected blood from spreading throughout his body, and preventing bleeding._

 _'Sharp, sharp, sharp...'_

 _Apollo began wondering around, looking for anything with a sharp enough edge. The best he could find though were some small kitchen knives, and those wouldn't do. That was until he heard a few soldiers approach._

 _"Hey, you! Answer me! Are you still human?"_

 _He quickly lifted his hands in the air, letting them know he didn't mean them any harm._

 _"Please, do you have anything sharp?" Apollo blurted out, shambling towards them with uneasy steps. He could feel his stomach bunching up into all kinds of knots, and his heart was racing out of his chest at the thought of what would follow. He had no choice though. Not if he wanted his brother to still be his brother by the next morning, and the ones after that. Getting to the soldiers, he could see one of them carrying a machete. It would suffice, seeing as time was of the essence. So he reached for it, trying to get it untangled from the confused soldier's belt. He tried fighting back at first, but when Apollo began talking, he calmed down and tried to help him._

 _"Please, I don't have time. My brother's been bitten on his left hand."_

 _The soldier untied the machete from it's loose slot on the belt, and handed it to Apollo, whose hands were shaking wildly._

 _"Need any help?"_

 _"Yes, yes..." He stuttered, walking towards an unconscious Hermes. Getting close to his brother, he could see him slightly opening his eyes, tears welling up behind them along with confusion. His nose was broken, his arm was bleeding, and the poor thing was probably hurting all over. Crying himself, Apollo tried to speak through the sobs, hoping to calm down his brother._

 _"It...it will be alright...little bro. I'm...I'm so sorry..."_

* * *

A loud creak of the door awoke him from his nightmare. Yet, as soon as he opened his eyes and got blinded by the light of the morning sun, he realized he'd been thrusted from one nightmare into another. A tall figure, casting harsh shadows upon him, occupied the door to the small, dirty room into which they hid for the night. His mind jolted awake, sent into overdrive as he began squirming against the wall.

"Hello, doctor. It's a pleasure to meet you after everything Doruk told me about you..." The tall figure entered the room, followed closely behind by four other people. All of Apollo's instincts were screaming at him, so loudly that they drowned out all of his thoughts. He tried getting up, yet his feet wouldn't listen to him. He stumbled over to his right and almost fell, catching himself against the wall in the last moment.

"Tie up the good doctor boys, but be gentle. He saved the ass of that piece of trash after all."

Two of the men broke away from the group, and approached Apollo. His world was spiraling out of control. His stomach turned inside out as he fell to his knees. One of the men got next to him and pulled out a couple of zipties. He guided Apollo's hands to his back and tied them up. He didn't pose any resistance. All of this was so surreal that he lost his grip on reality. A city chock full of zombies, his brother was probably dead under a van, and now he was captured by none other than Rais' men. He expected to wake up any minute now, back in his rented flat in Boston, and be late for classes. One of the goons gave him a push, trying to get him up and moving, and the moment he crashed onto the floor, he realized that wasn't the case. If the tongue he just bit was telling the truth, this was no dream.

"Get moving already doc, you're embarrassing yourself. We'll only be gentle if you cooperate."

The two goons grabbed him from beneath his shoulders and helped him up on his feet. He took a few uneasy steps towards the door, guided from the back by one of their rifles. He got out in the courtyard, and was blinded by the sun that finally managed to pierce the murky clouds. The gates of the courtyard were wide open, a yellow van guarded by two more men with rifles closing the gap. He started walking towards it, dragging his feet through the thick layer of mud.

As he reached the gate, he managed to retake a big enough chunk of his mind from the madness that took over it to take a peek to his right. Out there, in the empty street, he could clearly see the two blue vans laying at it's end. Out of the corner of his eye, he managed to spot Amir diving for cover next to one of the corpses left behind by last night's brawl.  
'At least Ayo managed to keep his end of the deal,' he thought to himself as he stepped in the back of the van, followed shortly by Rais' goons.

 **A/N: Sorry. Just...sorry...**

 **If you want to go into a corner and cry, you can join me. In other news, I've started writing 'short' drabbles to get me into the flow before I start writing for the actual story. I'll post them as well. They're mostly happy fluff, with no impact on the actual story.**


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